The present invention relates to a cleaning cartridge for a cartridge tape drive system. Specifically, the present invention relates to a cleaning cartridge for cleaning the drive wheel and the magnetic read, write, and erase heads of cartridge tape drive systems.
Cartridge tape drive systems generally comprise a plurality of magnetic read, write and erase heads. The cartridge tape drive systems also generally comprise a drive wheel located proximate the magnetic heads, the drive wheel being adapted to move magnetic tape past the heads. In order to insure the accurate functioning of the magnetic heads, it is important for the magnetic heads to be maintained relatively free of particulate foreign matter. It is, therefore, generally desirable to periodically clean the magnetic heads of such cartridge tape drive systems. It is important for the magnetic heads to be cleaned without damaging or otherwise interfering with the operation of said magnetic heads.
Similarly, since the drive wheel contacts the magnetic tape in order to move the tape past the magnetic heads, it is desirable that the drive wheel also be maintained relatively free of foreign particulate matter. Particulate matter present on the drive wheel can be easily transferred from the drive wheel to the magnetic tape and from the magnetic tape to the magnetic heads and vice versa.
Many cartridge tape drive systems also employ a tape scraper which is located proximate the magnetic read, write and erase heads. The tape scraper also contacts the magnetic tape and, therefore, it is desirable that the tape scraper be maintained relatively free of foreign particulate matter in order to prevent contamination of the rest of the system.
Various cleaning devices have been proposed for cartridge drive systems, depending on the particular type of drive systems. For example, one type is often referred to as "streamer" or "streaming" mode and another is often called a "start-stop" mode drive. Streamer and start-stop drives are typically used to provide backup data storage for disc drive systems. An exemplary cleaning system for streamer tape drives is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,614, issued Dec. 23, 1986, entitled "Tape Cartridge Drive Head Cleaner." The system of U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,614 is intended to clean the magnetic heads and tape scraper of such a drive system but is not believed to be generally effective in cleaning the drive wheel of the drive system. Therefore, foreign particulate matter present on the drive wheel can be relatively easily transferred to the magnetic heads. This often necessitates more frequent cleaning of the magnetic heads.
Other prior head cleaning devices have been developed for use with audio cassette and audio cartridge systems. Audio tape cleaning devices are generally designed to clean only the play head, leaving the other heads of the audio system untouched. When the heads of computer tape drive systems are to be cleaned it is necessary that all of the heads be cleaned in order to prevent faulty reading, writing, or erasing of information.
Various cartridge and cassette cleaners are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,141,053 to Kara; 4,458,281 to Kara; 4,149,206 to Loiselle; 4,225,893 to Loiselle; 4,272,796 to Van Kreuningen, et al.; 3,761,994 to Becht; 3,783,470 to Myers et al.; and 3,955,214 to Post et al. Most of these devices use a horizontally pivoting cleaning arm or a rotating pulley and a cleaning pad which is attached to the arm or pulley. The Myers' system imparts a sliding motion to a cleaning pad. Thus, these devices use a motion that is parallel to the tape path for the cleaning action and are generally designed to clean only one magnetic head. This parallel cleaning motion has often been found to be ineffective for removing dirt from the corners of the magnetic heads. U.S. Pat. No. 4,272,796 to Van Kreuningen, et al., relates to a cleaning system which uses a combination of a vertical and a horizontal cleaning motion. This system is also designed to clean only one magnetic head at a time.
The patents issued to Post et al., Kara, Loiselle, and Van Kreuningen, et al. are designed to use the transport mechanism of an audio cassette deck to provide the motion of the cleaning pad. Therefore, these designs produce a rapid scrubbing motion across the head. This results in repeated rubbing of the play head. Although this motion should not damage the magnetic heads of the cassette unit, such repeated cleanings could damage the more delicate magnetic heads of a computer tape drive. Furthermore, these audio cleaning systems generally require power to be applied to the cassette deck. It is not always desirable to have power applied to computer tape drives while cleaning the heads of such drives.
The cleaning system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,871, to Leaming, which is used for cleaning audio tape cartridge playback units, uses a shaft with a cotton swab or felt pad attached to the end of the shaft. The cartridge is inserted into the playback unit so the pad or swab may be rubbed against the playing head. If too much force is applied to the shaft, the magnetic heads may be damaged.
Other previous systems use abrasive cleaning pads or belts to rub the playing head to remove accumulated dirt. Repeated usage of abrasive pads or belts can cause damage to the magnetic heads.